THIMPHU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Bhutan reported 20 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the total active cases to 151 as of Monday as more cases were recorded lately in the southern part of the country.
Bhutan declared zero active COVID-19 cases twice on March 5 and 18. With new cases remaining below four until March 31, 16 positive cases were detected on April 1, mostly from quarantine facilities.
The number of daily positive cases recorded from quarantine facilities has since soared to 64 by April 16 in the capital city of Thimphu and the Phuentsholing town that borders India, where a new wave of the pandemic is raging.
On April 17, a community case was confirmed in Phuentsholing who was a 10-year-old school boy. It led to the government imposing a lockdown in all municipalities and satellite towns in the southern districts. A day later, five more community cases were detected in the Phuentsholing region.
The Health Ministry had initiated a rigorous contact tracing, which was followed by mass tests across the southern region of the country. Following the mass testing, the government has lifted lockdown on other parts of the southern region except the Phuentsholing town.
On April 21, six more positive cases were detected through contact tracing, according to the Health Ministry.
While the situation in Phuentsholing was improving, another community case was reported from Samdrup Jongkhar on May 3, a town that also borders India. In response, another three-day lockdown was imposed in Samdrup Jongkhar to help carry out mass screening and contact tracing.
According to the Health Ministry, six more community cases were registered on May 9 and 10 in Samdrup Jongkhar.
So far, Bhutan has reported a total of 1,221 positive cases, of which 1,067 were declared recovered and one confirmed dead.
Bhutan started a nationwide vaccination program late in March. Enditem
